Northern Ireland striker Callum Marshall says he expects Saturday’s Nations League game with Belarus to “be like Covid again”.

The game will be played in western Hungary and behind closed doors because of current Uefa restrictions on Belarus.

The 19-year-old, who is on loan at Huddersfield Town from West Ham, says it is far from ideal playing without supporters.

“Nobody wants to play behind closed doors as a footballer, especially when you have fans like Northern Ireland,” Marshall told BBC Sport NI.

“Everyone wants to see the away fans and hear them.”

Northern Ireland defeated Luxembourg in their Nations League opener in Belfast but lost their last match away to Bulgaria.

Michael O’Neill’s side travel to Zalaegerszeg to face Belarus, who drew with Bulgaria and defeated Luxembourg in their opening matches.

“It’s out of our hands,” Marshall added on the game being played behind closed doors.

“Both teams will be playing away from home, so we can’t use that as an excuse.

“It will be like Covid again with no atmosphere. It’ll be harder to get up for the occasion, but I’m sure we will.”

LEE CARSLEY’S tactical experiment of playing no strikers backfired as Vangelis Pavlidis’ double secured an emotional shock win for Greece at Wembley.

Interim England boss Carsley played all three of our nation’s gifted No10s – Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Cole Palmer – in varying positions.

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But it did not work and the Greeks took a deserved lead thanks to Pavlidis’ belting second-half finish.

The visitors then held up a shirt in celebration bearing the name Baldock – in reference to their team-mate George Baldock, whose passing at the age of just 31 on Wednesday rocked the world of football.

Bellingham looked to have ensured the points were shared with a thunderous strike with three minutes to go.

But there was still time for Pavlidis to expose some woeful defending deep into injury time by firing past Jordan Pickford.

Here are SunSport’s player ratings from a dire night for England under the arch.

Jordan Pickford: 4

Wandered into no-man’s-land territory outside his box early on and lost the ball, allowing Greek skipper Tasos Baksetas a free shot at goal – only to be saved by Levi Colwill’s last-gasp clearance.

Did not instil confidence, despite his experience.

Trent Alexander-Arnold: 6

Some tasty passes – they are his speciality, after all – but not great at the back.

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He, John Stones and Cole Palmer were weak in their attempt to close down Vangelis Pavlidis before the Benfica man smashed home the opener.

John Stones: 5

Made captain for what was his 82nd cap, surpassing Rio Ferdinand’s haul. But it was a shaky display from his defence and Stones should have done better to stop Pavlidis.

Levi Colwill: 7

Greece would have been ahead far sooner were it not for Colwill’s athletic hack away to deny Bakasetas.

Replays showed it would have crossed the line had the Chelsea man been a split second later with his incredible intervention.

Rico Lewis: 6

Tried to bomb up the left flank where he could but, just like Kieran Trippier at the Euros, was hamstrung by constantly having to cut back onto his favoured right foot.

Declan Rice: 6

Played as England’s only holding midfielder, as fans had been imploring Gareth Southgate to use him for years.

It was not like he was overrun but his side did look vulnerable on the counter.

Phil Foden: 4

Spent most of the game pressing the Greek backline as a false nine without really getting on the ball and causing any damage. Ineffective. 

Cole Palmer: 6

Deployed in a deeper, central-midfield role which at least meant he saw plenty of the ball, though he blazed England’s best chance of the first half over the bar.

Remarkably, his first competitive England start, despite being named on Tuesday as Three Lions player of the 2023-24 season. 

Bukayo Saka: 5

Struggled to get into the game and then was forced out of it, worryingly limping off early in the second half. The last thing Arsenal fans wanted to see.

Jude Bellingham: 7 STAR MAN

Played in a false nine position and had a belting early shot well saved.

The system did not work but Bellingham was nearly the saviour by banging in his first goal of the season for club and country.

Anthony Gordon: 5

Caused Greece few problems and his touch looked off it. Had a decent chance from Alexander-Arnold’s peach of a delivery but headed over.

SUBS: 

Noni Madueke (for Saka 52): 6

Played out on the left, rather than his natural right, when coming on. Went down in the box deep into injury time but no penalty was given.

Ollie Watkins (for Gordon 60): 7

Almost scored with his first touch when played through by Palmer, but smashed just over.

Dominic Solanke (for Foden 72): 7

Grabbed an assist when laying the ball back to Bellingham who thumped in the leveller.

Manager Lee Carsley: 4

Seemed to gamble unnecessarily with this experimental system instead of playing it safe to add another win to boost his case to earn the job full-time.

Carsley played without a natural centre-forward when winning the Under-21 Euros because he had to after Flo Balogun switched the USA and Rhian Brewster got injured, but here he did it by choice and it did not work.

Bellingham looked to have saved his bacon – but then Pavlidis struck again.

Conor McGregor is headed to court in Ireland after a judge there set a trial date over damages filed against the UFC superstar by a woman claiming he assaulted her.

On Thursday, Justice Alexander Owens set a trial date of Nov. 5 in the personal injury case against McGregor, which was actually filed all the way back in 2021. Details about the trial were first reported by the Irish Mirror.

A woman, who allegedly knows McGregor, filed the grievance with the courts and she’s seeking an unspecified amount in damages. A jury will eventually rule on the trial once proceedings kick off in November.

The hearing for the case was originally supposed to start in either June or July, but McGregor’s attorney’s asked for a delay due to his previously scheduled bout against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June. McGregor’s attorney argued that logistically it wasn’t feasible for the trial to start with McGregor preparing to fight, and it was also possible that the former two-division UFC champion could suffer injuries in the bout.

Despite the plaintiff’s attorney’s arguing against the delay, the judge granted the motion, although McGregor never ended up fighting after he suffered a broken toe in training.

While the judge granted the delay at the time, a trial date is now set for November.

The details behind the alleged assault from 2018 have not been made public due to privacy laws in Ireland, but the woman involved in the case also sued one of McGregor’s associates as well.

Briton Jack Massey has promised to bring the IBF cruiserweight title back home for his daughter as he prepares to face champion Jai Opetaia in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Massey, 31, has won six of his past seven fights, with his only defeat coming when he stepped up to heavyweight to face Joseph Parker.

He meets Opetaia in Riyadh, on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev’s undisputed light-heavyweight fight against Dmitry Bivol.

“It’s a massive opportunity,” Massey said.

“I’m doing this for my little girl and family. That’s the fire in my belly.

“I am coming home with that title. My little girl is seeing that title.”

Massey and Opetaia were sitting almost side-by-side during Thursday’s news conference and engaged in a tense stare-off, before sharing a handshake.

Opetaia, 29, beat Mairis Briedis to win the IBF belt in 2022 and has made three defences to extend his undefeated record to 25.

The Australian said he is not overlooking Massey but also vowed to “take the title home” for his daughter.

Massey, who was working on a scaffolding site two years ago, is undefeated at cruiserweight since losing against Richard Riakporhe for the vacant British title in 2019.

LEVI COLWILL spared Jordan Pickford’s blushes by making a sensational goal line clearance.

The Chelsea star was named in Lee Carsley‘s starting XI as England took on Greece at Wembley.

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Within the first 10 minutes he was forced to strain every sinew in order to keep the score-line level.

Three Lions No1 Pickford came racing out of his goal to intercept a Greek long ball.

After doing so, the Everton star dawdled in possession.

In a nightmare moment for the experienced stopper, Pickford miscontrolled, gifting the ball to Greece star Anastasios Bakasetas.

The Greek skipper lofted the ball towards the unguarded net, and looked almost certain to have scored.

But Colwill went haring after it, before showing supreme athleticism to somehow keep the ball out.

Replays showed that the ball had been just inches from crossing the line.

And fans were left in awe of Colwill’s amazing clearance.

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One wrote on social media: “Clearance of the year.”

While a second posted: “Honestly thought no chance he makes it!”

A third commented: “Levi Colwill just pulled off a goal-line clearance that defied physics.”

And another added: “One of the best goal-line clearances you will ever see!”

Colwill was earning just his fourth England cap, having featured just once under Gareth Southgate.

He lined up at the back alongside John Stones, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Rico Lewis at full-back.

Carsley fielded Declan Rice ahead of the back four in midfield, with attacking stars Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden all squeezed into a line-up featuring no traditional No9.

Just moments after Colwill’s clearance, Greece had the ball in the net.

West Ham star Konstantinos Mavropanos headed the ball beyond Pickford following more unconvincing work from the England goalkeeper, only for the offside flag to come to the Three Lions’ rescue.

There would be no reprieve in the 49th minute, however, when Greece took the lead via Vangelis Pavlidis.

Things then went from bad to worse for the Three Lions moments later, with Bukayo Saka limping off with an injury.

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This might be as cold as it gets.

Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol had a tense staredown at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ahead of their undisputed light-heavyweight title fight. This is the first time since 2002 that all four major championship titles have been up for grabs in the four-belt era.

Both Beterbiev and Bivol didn’t break eye contact until they were instructed to face forward for the photo op. Below you can check out their intense staredown (via X):

BETERBIEV. BIVOL.

FOR THE THRONE.#BeterbievBivol | OCT 12 6PM ET | @ESPNPlus | #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/LEkfSM5Wmi

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— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 10, 2024

For the first time in the modern era, all four light heavyweight belts will be on the line – WBO, WBA, IBF and WBC. Beterbiev holds the WBO, WBC and IBF titles, while Bivol brings the WBA belt into the contest. Both fighters are undefeated.

Bivol, 33, has three wins since his big 2022 title defense against boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez. His most recent victory came in June when he stopped Malik Zinad to retain his WBA title. Meanwhile, Beterbiev, 39, last fought in January, stopping Callum Smith.